KENNEWICK (USA): U-1 Spirit of Qatar’s Dave Villwock came away from the Lamb Weston Colombia Cup at Kennewick in Washington with victories in qualifying and his first heat but finished the final in third position after a dramatic weekend’s racing.

The defending National High Points champion also saw his lead at the top of the points standings in the 2012 Air National Guard H1 Hydroplane Series reduced from 465 points to 190 after three days of racing on the Colombia River.

Maryland’s Jimmy Shane won the neck-and-neck final from J. Michael Kelly and Villwock in third. Steve David led the final two laps of the final but was penalised for a buoy violation in one of the closest finishes in hydroplane history.

Villwock, the Washington State team driver, races an Ellstrom Racing-built hydroplane, which has the backing of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), under the presidency of Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani.

Villwock confirmed the 100 points for winning Friday afternoon’s qualifying session with an average lap speed of 159.648mph over the 2.5-mile Colombia River course. The Qatar-backed driver duly extended his National High Point lead over David by 20 points after the Florida-based U-6 driver fell just short of the U-1’s speed.

Villwock was drawn with Ryan Mallow, Scott Liddycoat and Mark Evans in Heat 1A, but Liddycoat failed to start the heat with propeller issues, Evans didn’t finish with similar problems and Villwock was able to cruise through to take the 400 points for the heat win, although David did win Heat 1B to maintain the points’ difference in the title race.

Heat 2A would be crucial with Villwock and David drawn in the same heat along with Jimmy Shane, Jon Zimmerman, Brian Perkins and Greg Hopp. But Villwock failed to finish the heat with damage and gearbox woes and Shane stormed through to take the chequered flag and 400 vital points. David settled for second and Hopp snatched third in front of Zimmerman and Perkins. J. Michael Kelly won Heat 2B.

Villwock was drawn with Mallow David, Shane, Perkins and Hopp for Heat 3B and knew it was vital to win the heat and claw back some points. But the heat win fell to David, with Shane snatching second and Villwock taking third.

Shane went on to clinch maximum points in the final to seal the Lamb Weston Colombia Cup, with J. Michael Kelly taking second and Villwock coming in third.

Action resumes at the Seattle Seafair, the fourth round of the series, this weekend.